Prosit Neu Jahr from Vienna!

No, unfortunately I'm not in Vienna. I'm listening to ( and watching!) the New Year's Day concert form Vienna. A tradition for us. I'm also cooking and blogging..... And I'd also time this morning to take a couple of pictures.


This is a flower of Camellia japonica cultivar "Ascona", former name "Contra". The latter is the name of the small Town where I'm coming from, but due to the fact that Ascona is well-known (at least in Europe), they renamed the cultivar... If the weather is favorable, still unusual for a japonica cultivar, the flowering period begin as early as end of November through April-May.

The flowers after 2-3 weeks are full opened and due to the could temperature they also  unterwent a nice discoloration.

Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous new year 2013!